Girl With A Notebook

Docking stations became a common laptop accessory in the early 1990s. The most common use was in a corporate computing environment where the company had standardized on a common network card and this same card was placed into the docking station. These stations were very large and quite expensive. As the need for additional storage and expansion slots became less critical because of the high integration inside the laptop, port replicators have gained popularity, being a cheaper, often passive device that often simply mates to the connectors on the back of the notebook, or connects via a standardised port such as USB or FireWire.
Standards
Some laptop components (optical drives, hard drives, memory and internal expansion cards) are relatively standardized, and it is possible to upgrade or replace them in many laptops as long as the new part is of the same type. Depending on the manufacturer and model, a laptop may range from having several standard, easily customizable and upgradeable parts to a proprietary design that cannot be reconfigured at all. The replacability/upgradability of the hardware can be announced as positive by the laptop maker; a few brands sell "barebones" laptops which can be outfitted by the purchaser.